Commando

Silver/20th Century-Fox. Director Mark L. Lester; Producer Joel Silver; Screenplay Steven de Souza; Camera Matthew F. Leonetti; Editor Mark Goldblatt, John F. Link, Glenn Farr; Music James Horner;; Art Director John Vallone

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Rae Dawn Chong
Dan Hedaya
Vernon Wells
David Patrick Kelly
Alyssa Milano

In Commando, the fetching surprise is the glancing humor between the quixotic and larky Rae Dawn Chong and the straight-faced killing machine of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Chong lights up the film like a firefly, Schwarzenegger delivers a certain light touch of his own, the result is palatable action comics.

Director Mark L. Lester, compelled to deal with an absurd plot [by Joseph Loeb III, Matthew Weisman and Steven de Souza], is blessed by the decision to cast Chong, who enjoys an offbeat sexuality and an insouciance that is irrestible.

Credit Lester with chiseling the quick, subtly romantic byplay between the two stars - unlikely mates thrown together in pursuit of a deadly Latin neo-dictator - and pulling off a terrific series of tracking shots during a riotous chase in a crowded galleria complex.

Heavies are vividly drawn in the cases of the obsessed Vernon Wells, the punk David Patrick Kelly, and sullen, ice-cold Bill Duke.

(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1985. Running time: 88 MIN.

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